I'll Stop Whining

My whining about the weather where I am has been exposed by developments in other parts of the Midwest for what it is. Selfish whining. I just spent five minutes watching pictures on the Star-Trib website of the flooding in Wisconsin and Iowa. The Wisconsin flooding isn't all that far from where I used to live and I know some of those places. In addition where I lived had nearly 8" of rain in two days and a lot of people are having problems.

And there I sat on Saturday whining that my band concert was cancelled.

Mea culpa.

Isn't it amazingly sad how narrow-minded we can become? All we can see is what is right in front of us. I don't remember who said it but I read or heard a speaker talking about how we respond when we hear an ambulance go by or firetrucks heading down the street. How many times might we pray, "Don't let it be my house or someone I know." What we are saying is "Please let it be someone else's house or someone else's friend."

Yeah, I was taken aback when I first heard that. What we should pray for is for God's presence with whoever is facing a potential disaster in their lives. Or how about the person who says they are grateful that God rescued them. Why then did God not rescue the other person?

Now, we are getting into some pretty heavy stuff, I realize. The whole book of Job is a long wrestling with that issue. I guess for me the bottom line is to put my own issues and selfishness in perspective. I should be grateful for what I have instead of whining about what I don't. Not that I'm glad that the weather hit someone else and not me, but that could be me some other time.

Humility is always important.